Stop if you’ve heard this before: Tom Brady gets the better of Peyton Manning. With the New England Patriots’ thrilling 34-31 overtime victory, this time with Brady producing the largest comeback in team history, he’s now 10-4 head-to-head against his fellow future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Losing such duels to his nemesis, Manning's biggest source of individual frustration has been Brady and coach Bill Belichick. The latest loss, however, casts more doubt on whether Manning’s superb run with the Denver Broncos will include a Super Bowl.

This is the second time the Broncos have lost a Sunday night road game against another soon-to-be AFC division winner this season. Week 7 against Manning’s former team, the Indianapolis Colts, on a stage just as big, was a 39-33 loss in which the Broncos couldn’t complete the comeback and Manning was outplayed by Andrew Luck. In Week 12, it was the Broncos not putting away the Patriots after leading 24-0 at halftime and being outplayed by Brady (again).

Consider Brady (34-of-50, 344 yards, 3 TDs) had to overcome his fumbling running backs and shaky offensive line early, but found his groove in blustery Foxborough, leading a three-touchdown surge against the wind in the third quarter.

Manning (19-of-36, 150 yards, 2 TDs, INT), despite plenty of help from Knowshon Moreno (224 of the team’s 280 rushing yards) and the running game, could established a downfield passing game to match.

The Colts and Patriots will end up being the toughest non-AFC West competition the Broncos face before the playoffs, and they couldn’t defeat either when Manning had an off night, thwarted by pressure and physical coverage on his receivers.

The Broncos remain on track to get the AFC’s top seed and ensure all their playoff games are in Denver, but it’s now down to a one-game lead over the Patriots. Seeing how a little different wintry script was written in last year's overtime divisional playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, there should be reason for anxiety that a similar ending is in store.

Had the Broncos beaten Baltimore, it would have set up another Brady-Manning duel. Even though Manning’s shining playoff moment with the Colts came in the big comeback (from down 21-3 to go up 38-34) he led in the 2006 AFC championship game, that was a long time ago, for a younger passer with a team that kept knocking on the Super Bowl door.

Looking back on Manning vs. Brady, after they duel for the last time, it will be clear who played better in those games, and who had the breaks in the close ones. As brilliant as Manning looks in the latter stages of his career, it still hasn’t worked out for the best against the Patriots. In other huge moments, it’s been the Ravens’ Joe Flacco and New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees stealing away the opportunities.

It’s easy to say what happened and how it happened on Sunday shouldn’t fester and bring down what has been building as a magical, record-setting season for Manning and the Broncos. But if there comes that desired playoffs rematch with the Patriots that didn’t happen last season, there’s too much evidence to think that round won’t go to Brady, too.